James Miles Jr.
James "Jimmy" Martin Miles Jr. (born August 20, 1965) is an American attorney, businessman, philanthropist, and politician, who currently serves as Attorney General of the State of Alaska and is a candidate in the Republican Primary for Alaska's at-large US House of Representatives seat. Early Life and Education Miles was born in Juneau, Alaska, the only child of James Miles Sr. and Patricia Miles (nee Brooks). When Miles was 2 years old, he and his parents moved to Anchorage. His father was at the time a pertroleum engineer and the owner of Arctic Circle Drilling Enterprises, which he sold to Atlantic Richfield Company (ARCO) for 55 million dollars, and was hired by said company as Chief Engineer of Arctic Operations. Miles Sr. was soon after selected to the Board of Trustees of ARCO in 1970, and was made ARCO Alaska Division President in 1977. Miles Sr. was instrumental in planning the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System. James Miles Sr. was killed by asphyxiation in a tragic avalanche that happened during his descent from his first summit of Denali (then Mount Mckinley). His will specified that $85 million of his $98 million net worth be provided to his only son in a trust fund upon his graduation from high school. James was 12 years old when his father died, and he and his mother returned to Juneau, where she remarried 6 months later to Carmichael Madsen, an author and journalist. Madsen was arrested as a Russian spy in 1981 and charged with espionage and stalking, and later admitted to CIA agents that he had married Patricia Miles in order to gain access to the community of oil executives in America. Miles Jr. graduated from high school with exemplary grades, and enrolled in Stanford University as a double major in political science and business. Various accounts indicate that Miles was either expelled from or asked to leave Stanford as a junior due to allegations that he was running an unlicensed consulting firm based in the basement of his fraternity house. Stanford University officials pardoned him for his actions in 2010, officially making him in good standing with the university after 25 years. Miles resumed his schooling at the University of Montana, and worked as an intern for Montana governor Douglas Stephens. He earned his BA in political science and a joint JD/MBA degree. Career After college, Miles briefly worked in a record shop in Missoula, Montana and spent a year travelling through Europe. Miles took work as a clerk in the Lincoln County Attorney's Office in Libby, Montana. He was hired as a full-time city attorney, and had a potential Supreme Court case in 1999 in City of Libby v. W.R. Grace & Co., ''but before the case was taken up by the court it was settled outside of court for $262,800,000. ''Libby v. Grace was the determining settlement on if the company that mined vermiculite in Libby, Montana was responsible for the asbestos contamination of the city. After this, Miles spent a year teaching surfing classes and investing in real estate in Laguna Beach, California. He moved back to his hometown of Juneau, Alaska in 2001, and worked for Marks and Turner P.C., a general practice firm specializing in criminal defense. With money from his inheritance, Miles quit criminal law and started his own corporate law firm, Miles LLP, which attracted major clients in Alaska's natural resources extraction industries. By 2008, Miles LLP had offices in Juneau, Anchorage, Seattle, and Houston, and was the sole counsel for both ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips. As a philanthropist, Miles was a major donor to the Cato Institute, Americans for Prosperity, the Dream Center of Los Angeles, Feeding America, and the Alaska Association of Climbers and Hikers, for which he gave $2 million for research on avalanche safety. In 2014, Miles was selected as an emergency appointment to the position of Attorney General of the State of Alaska by Governor Keegan West. Miles led an investigation into the West administration, which unveiled corruption that led to West's recall. Miles was selected by West's replacement to continue his place as Attorney General In early 2017, Miles announced his candidacy in the Republican primary for US House of Representative for Alaska's at-large seat.